R25SC Impeller Replacement

[buoyohbuoy]

I know this topic has been covered at length on this site but I encountered something that hadn't been mentioned in other posts. When I decided to change the impeller myself (for the first time) on our 2014 R25SC and after watching Kenny Marr's video on the subject, I thought it seemed fairly straight forward. But once I removed the teak panel from the cabin step I was faced with something Kenny hadn't covered: there was a small unidentified black box mounted on a platform with rigid copper tubing inlet and outlets going to the fuel tank. (I have a couple of pics in my photo album. I didn't know how to post them here.) If there are Tugnuts out there who have encountered the same thing can they share what steps they took to get access to the front of the engine. Does this black box have to be removed? Or can the second access panel slide out through the cave without disturbing it? I was reluctant to start monkeying around with things until I knew what I was dealing with. Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Mike
"Daria" 2014 R25SC

 

[S. Todd]

That is an interesting looking black box. There is nothing like it anywhere on our 2015 R25SC and definitely not located where yours is. (At least not that I have found anywhere). Are you the second owner of this boat? Plumbed in and out of the fuel tank? There do not appear to be any extra filters in your picture, otherwise I would suspect a fuel polisher was added.

 

[knotflying]

It looks like the pump and filter box for the Wabasto heater. If it is in the way of removing the panel you are going to have to remove it to remove the panel. If that is an issue I would then consider another location for it so it is out of the way. When you reconnect it you will most likely get errors of no fuel on the Wabasto. If that happens after a few tries it will lock out. You will have to disconnect all power to the Wabasto and then try to restart again. eventually she should fire up.

 

[buoyohbuoy]

Thanks to S. Todd and knotflying who offered advice on this one. Andrew Custis confirmed knotflying's suspicion: the black box is the Webasto pump and it has to be disconnected and removed to get the access panel out. What looked like a relatively easy job at first (thanks, Kenny! :lol: ) just got a lot more involved. Not sure I want to tackle this one myself; might leave it to the professionals. Maybe Ranger should consider making access to the front of the engine a little more user-friendly for those of us who are a) less mechanically-inclined; b) not made of rubber; and c) the wrong side of sixty! 😀

Mike

 

[Jake]

Mike,
So you're saying there's an engine down there somewhere? :roll: My entire body hurts just thinking about it. Any idea what the mechanic will charge?

 

[Rockyman]

I could not agree more. I believe the cabin step arrangement and consequent contortionist access to impeller replacement is the single greatest design fault on the R25 and R27. For everyone, especially us "older" folks it turns what should be a simple task into a major problem. It would be a relatively simple modification to make the whole of the cabin step removable and allow access to the impeller,without having to unscrew multiple panels and climb into an impossibly small hole.

Putting the Webasto pump in the way of access simply compounds the problem. Let me guess, was it the same genius who decided not to connect the solar panels to the battery that runs the automatic bilge pump who decided to put the Webasto pump in that location?

Hopefully somebody at Ranger tugs reads this and takes it seriously. It is way past time to fix the impeller access.

 

[knotflying]

I would "invest" in moving the Wabasto black box in a different location that is also easily accessible. Leaving it there is only going to cause issues in the future every time you need access. Another thought, impeller access is on the Starboard side. This is what I did on my boat. I cut the inside access at the vertical halfway point and I also cut it just before the point where it exists through to the cave. I cut the cave side so that it is halfway under the vertical that holds it in. Now when I need to access the engine I just have to remove the screws on the inside panel and I can pull each half out of the step rather than remove the panel through the cave side. It makes for a much faster access to the engine. You may be able to leave the Wabasto box there and be able to slide the panel out if you modify it as I did.

 

[portlandtug25]

I had a similar problem in accessing the impeller on my R25. Regarding the stubborn access panel under the step: There were no VISIBLE screws holding this thing in place, just the four that secure the shelf on which the pump sits.. But I discovered ONE screw--only one-- hidden UNDER the right hand-side of the shelf.

Fortunately, there is enough flex in the copper fuel lines that you can slide the shelf sideways just enough to get that one screw out, after you take out the four screws holding the pump down, of course. Then the panel slides out, after removing the two fuzzy panels in the quarter berth. If there were other screws under the shelf you'd have to remove the pump. (maybe that's why there's only one?) This might be good information to put in a second edition of the video, for the benefit of R25 SC owners with the same fuel pump set-up..this certainly didn't occur to me --I more or less found that one screw accidently.

Agreed that this impeller access business is one of the most (maybe the most) frustrating things about this otherwise well designed boat. Ironically one of Volvo's bragging points in their literature on the D3 is easy impeller access!

 

[Brian B]

I modified the front of the step two years ago for easier access to the engine. (Pics in my photo album) Other owners have cut the step out completely and replaced it with a wood removable step. I agree that Ranger should design better access to the engine. I thought the Volvo was going to be easier but from what I've read it doesn't seem so.

 

[Scuffy]

Well after getting out all the screws buried in monkey fur out removing the interior panels and removing the kick plate I discovered I can't really get in far enough because my chest size makes for my back hitting the bottom of the step or my arms are not long enough. I can't really see the belt tensioner bolt too well either even wedging myself as far as I can go. I think the idea for the factory to make the impellor changes easier is something the factory should entertain. It really should not be that hard. I guess I'll have to modify my step. I can't imagine being somewhere on the water needing to do an impellor change with the current configuration. I don't know about the ease of a Yanmar impellor change but the Volvo D3 in a R-27 isn't a walk in the park either.